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Dr. Slump: I saw this ages ago in Korean dubs. Funny stuff about a scientist who makes an android girl. Or is this the wrong anime [it was called Doctor Sulumpu in Korean engrish].

Tekkaman Blade: Released as Teknoman in the US. Only half the series was shown on the UPN network before it was cut. No other mediums were released, so it is hard to find.
Luckily, a group is currently fansubbing Tekkaman Blade. The memories...

Iria: I was forced to watch this by my friends. They got it from their older brother, an anime collector. I didn't want to watch it, but after watching the first few minutes, it was cool.
Interstellar bounty hunting. Umbrella powered craft. Battle spoons. Cool villian alien. The portable Bob.
If you can find this, it's worth watching.

Rare depends on if you are a Japanese viewer or not, and since I'm not:

Glassy Ocean - I taped it off of a UK TV channel when they were doing an animation special. Its a short 10 minute, experimental anime using some CG effects about a frozen moment in time, when a whale is in mid-jump and the ocean becomes like glass. It was beautiful. I want a real copy.

Oseam - The real thing, not that online rip. I have the limited edition version with the soundtrack and the DVD extras. They show footage of the real mountain and temple that the story is based on. Man that made me cry.

Now the rare stuff that I really want is the Studio 4C Collection DVD (Mix-Juice and Uraroji Diamond), the Osamu Tezuka Experimental Anime Shorts, the old Hi no Tori movies, the old Rumic World VHS tapes, original black and white Astro Boy, Takahata's Jarinko Chie (Chie the Brat), the two commericals that Ghibli did (Sora and Nandarou),....*sigh*

Now the rare stuff that I really want is the Studio 4C Collection DVD (Mix-Juice and Uraroji Diamond), the Osamu Tezuka Experimental Anime Shorts, the old Hi no Tori movies, the old Rumic World VHS tapes, original black and white Astro Boy, Takahata's Jarinko Chie (Chie the Brat), the two commericals that Ghibli did (Sora and Nandarou),....*sigh*

Momotaro no Shinpei and other wartime propaganda anime of the late 1930s to the mid 1940s One Thousand and One Nights, Cleopatra, Kanashimi no Veradonna Mushi-pro's experimental "anime-rama" theater projects 1969-1974

These two are probably one of the rarest animes (well, the "anime-ramas" is out on DVD-box set now, but I have not seen this on shelves anywhere) even for Japanese otakus.

"i dont know anyone who's seen or who has the entire urusei yatsura series..."
I watched this as a child...daccha.

I'm surprised "Dr. Slump" is considered to be rare to you guys...considering how famous "Dragon Ball" was in the United States, I was certain that people would've known Toriyama Akira's earlier work.

To the guys that suggested "Galaxy Express 999" (Gingatetsudou 999), "Ashita no Joe," "Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu," "Majin Eiyuuden Wataru," "Kinnikuman," and "Mazinger Z" (for the guy who said "Mazinger Z vs Ankoku Dai Shogun," kudos to you as it is also my favorite!) you will all be surprised to know that these animes are in the top 100 famous anime series and favorites to Japanese people - otaku and non-otaku combined. Especially "Ashita no Joe" as it was such a massive hit that when Rikiishi Tooru died, they actually held a huge funeral for an anime character.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

Curse those people who won't sell to international buyers.

I assume you are talking about Yahoo! Auction in Japan. Sadly, most people here are distrustful of selling stuff online to people outside of Japan. For one thing, not a lot of people know how to send stuff internationally (they think it's a hassle when it isn't), they are distrustful of foreigners not paying, "oh the guy/girl is a foreigner, he probably doesn't speak Japanese so I'm not going to get into a hassle" syndrome, and they believe if something goes wrong in the negotiation they can't do anything about it because the other party lives overseas.

To the guys that suggested "Galaxy Express 999" (Gingatetsudou 999), "Ashita no Joe," "Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu," "Majin Eiyuuden Wataru," "Kinnikuman," and "Mazinger Z" (for the guy who said "Mazinger Z vs Ankoku Dai Shogun," kudos to you as it is also my favorite!) you will all be surprised to know that these animes are in the top 100 famous anime series and favorites to Japanese people - otaku and non-otaku combined. Especially "Ashita no Joe" as it was such a massive hit that when Rikiishi Tooru died, they actually held a huge funeral for an anime character.

I have been extremely tempted to order the Mushi Pro Anime-rama DVD box sex even though they have no subtitles and I understand just about no Japanese. I wonder if anyone would sub them if I provided the raws...

Momotaro no Shinpei and other wartime propaganda anime of the late 1930s to the mid 1940s

I was going to name wartime propaganda anime as the rarest thing I'd seen, though I've only seen some clips of one of them in a lecture that Jonathan Clemens was giving at the London Sci-Fi Film Festival a few years back. He showed a clip of one where all the people were portrayed by animals (I think), and there were some English generals with English voice actors (presumably prisoners of war)--all the English people talked very strangly, and Jonathan thought that perhaps they were purposely talking wrong as a sort of rebellion.

I'd love to see the rest of the one I saw (and any others), as they're quite fascinating, both from a historical perspective in terms of the war and in terms of animation itself. I think I can understand why they aren't shown that often in Japan, though. Would they be legal to release for historical reasons, or would the be banned outright? I know loads of Nazi things are banned in Germany, but I don't know what Japan's policy on wartime propaganda is.

I assume you are talking about Yahoo! Auction in Japan. Sadly, most people here are distrustful of selling stuff online to people outside of Japan. For one thing, not a lot of people know how to send stuff internationally (they think it's a hassle when it isn't), they are distrustful of foreigners not paying, "oh the guy/girl is a foreigner, he probably doesn't speak Japanese so I'm not going to get into a hassle" syndrome, and they believe if something goes wrong in the negotiation they can't do anything about it because the other party lives overseas.

I don't mind when it's listed upfront "Will not ship overseas", that isn't really a problem, if I really want it I can try to purchase it through a proxy (a proxy; someone in Japan who will make the purchase on your behalf then ship you the product for a small fee). My frustration comes from having won a number of private auctions only to have the seller pull out when they learn you are a foreigner.

I was going to name wartime propaganda anime as the rarest thing I'd seen, though I've only seen some clips of one of them in a lecture that Jonathan Clemens was giving at the London Sci-Fi Film Festival a few years back. He showed a clip of one where all the people were portrayed by animals (I think), and there were some English generals with English voice actors (presumably prisoners of war)--all the English people talked very strangly, and Jonathan thought that perhaps they were purposely talking wrong as a sort of rebellion.

I'd love to see the rest of the one I saw (and any others), as they're quite fascinating, both from a historical perspective in terms of the war and in terms of animation itself. I think I can understand why they aren't shown that often in Japan, though. Would they be legal to release for historical reasons, or would the be banned outright? I know loads of Nazi things are banned in Germany, but I don't know what Japan's policy on wartime propaganda is.

While I would like to own a VHS copy of those films, unfortunately not many people know about this here in Japan as well. It is plausible that these animes might actually be easier to find in the US as the Allied Occupational Forces took away those films during the occupational period. However, the copies that were distributed to the theaters at the time still do exists (in very bad shape - something needs to be done!!) and once in a while it is shown here in Japan at a film festival - where I was lucky enough to see this back in middle school.

Seeing that I cannot find any useful info in my local library or on Google, I assume that this film cannot be transfered over to video anytime soon, especially in Japan. But it does give you the feel of the era and a chill down your spine when you get to see this - the quality is actually good for a Japanese anime made at the time (of course, it pales to Disney propaganda films which I have also seen a glimpse on TV). And there is something weird and makes you ponder when the credits roll and you see "Produced by: Ministry of the Navy - Public Relations Division"

Fist of the North Star TV - i've only seen the first few eps of this series, I really liked it and wished I could find the rest. the movie was awsome, but the tv show was so much better imo.

Genocyber - alot of the people i talk to never heard of this movie, but i found it in some really anti-social video store that i puts snuff films on their shelves. the movie was pretty damn cool with probably the most confusingly lazy ending ever...

Spoiler:

at the end, after the main character finnally resolved pretty much everything, text appeared saying "And on that day, Tokyo mysteriously vanished off the face of the Earth." and the credits roll.

but besides that, it was a pretty kick ass movie.

Rizelmine - I know what alot of you are saying, "That isn't so rare, it was fansubbed and distributed over bit torrent." well, that show you will NEVER see on american shelves... pedofile is VERY taboo here, i'm sure it is in alot of places too, but protective mothers are alot more powerful in america than japan. but i'm one of the lucky ones that found a die-hard fan of rizelmine and got almost all the episodes when only the last few were avaliable on anime suki.

Hmmm Probably
Virus Buster surge-Not sure how many people seen it but here in uk very little.
Plastic Little-Not sure either not that many people i speak to have seen it.
Trigun-I know nearly all of u have in the US but in the UK it hasnt even been released.
Narutaru-Quite a few people have seen this but not to much.

The rarest anime I've seen, at least I was told it was rare, was a recap of the macross series done similiar to an amv. Next to that would have to be Nuku Nuku dash, which I saw the first episode raw, on laserdisc. Kanon Kazehana would have to be next. While it's widely available as a funsub, I belive it was originally a promotional dvd that you had to send in enough points to get, but needed more than could be acumulated by just buying the dvds for the series.

The rarest anime I've seen, at least I was told it was rare, was a recap of the macross series done similiar to an amv. Next to that would have to be Nuku Nuku dash, which I saw the first episode raw, on laserdisc. Kanon Kazehana would have to be next. While it's widely available as a funsub, I belive it was originally a promotional dvd that you had to send in enough points to get, but needed more than could be acumulated by just buying the dvds for the series.

I assume you mean "Macross Flash Back 2012." Yes it is rare now and the DVD has gone out of print. The LD version sells for a very expensive price at Madarake now. Yes I do own the DVD - occasionally, someone might sell their used one on Amazon Japan, so you might want to try your luck there.

"Nuku Nuku Dash" can be found anywhere at video rental stores here.

"Kanon Kazahana" was a little bit of luck to get it for free, but if you know where to look, you can get it pretty cheap for around 3900 yen.